Several of Applicant's prior applications, including WO 2005/037152, U.S. Pat. No. 6,675,809, and U.S. application Ser. No. 11/439,461, Filed May 23, 2006, (each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety) describe methods according to which medical implants are coupled to tissue within the stomach. According to these applications, devices for inducing weight loss (e.g. by restricting and/or obstructing flow of food into the stomach, and/or by occupying a portion of the stomach volume and/or or by limiting absorption of nutrients by the stomach and/or small intestine) may be coupled to the stomach tissue, or to tissue tunnels or plications formed from stomach tissue.
Other types of implants may be coupled to stomach tissue, plications or other tissue structures for a variety of purposes. These implants include, but are not limited to gastric space occupiers, prosthetic valves for the treatment of gastro-esophageal reflux disease, gastric stimulators, pH monitors and drug eluting devices that release drugs, biologics or cells into the stomach or elsewhere in the GI tract. Such drug eluting devices might include those which release leptin (a hormone which creates feelings of satiety), Ghrelin (a hormone which creates feelings of hunger), octreotide (which reduces Ghrelin levels and thus reduces hunger), Insulin, chemotherapeutic agents, natural biologics (e.g. growth factor, cytokines) which aid in post surgery trauma, ulcers, lacerations etc. Still other implants might be of a type which might provide a platform to which specific cell types can adhere, grow and provide biologically-active gene products to the GI tract, and/or a platform for radiation sources that can provide a local source of radiation for therapeutic purposes, or provide a platform whereby diagnostic ligands are immobilized and used to sample the GI tract for evidence of specific normal or pathological conditions, or provide an anchor point for imaging the GI tract via cameras and other image collecting devices.
The present application describes a new system and method for retaining implants within the stomach. According to the disclosed and illustrated procedure, an anchor is passed endoscopically from within the stomach through the stomach wall and is embedded in the tissue of the abdominal wall. The anchor holds the stomach wall and abdominal wall in contact with one another. Bonding occurs between the stomach wall and abdominal wall, creating a reinforced tissue region surrounding the anchor. An implant is coupled to the anchor. Although the implant experiences significant forces due to movement of the stomach and passage of food and liquid through the stomach, the anchor attachment is sufficiently strong to retain the implant without unintended detachment.